Improvement in car and cable couplings



WINFIELD S. NEARING, OF MORRIS RUN, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN CAR AND CABLE COUPLINGS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. l34l d37, dated December 31, 1872.

To all whom it mag concern:

Be it known that I, WINFIELD S. NEARING, of' Morris Run, in the county, of Tioga and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and Improved Coupling for Gables, of which the following is a specification:

Figure l is an end view,'partly in section, of my improved cable-coupling. Fig. 2 is a side view of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

This invention relates to a new kind of clamp which is to be attached to railroad cars or other moving devices for connecting them to wire or other cables that are in motion, so that whenever such car or device is by the clamp connected to the cable it will be propelled by the same, while it willremain at rest as soon as disconnected. The invention consists in constructing a clamp-of two pivoted jaws which are held apart by an intermediate spring, and can be drawn together against the rope or cable by a cam attachment to a lever that turns on a pin projecting from one of the aws.

In the drawing, the letters A and B represent the two jaws of the clamp. They are at their upper ends connected and pivoted together by a pin, 0, on which they can swing apart or toward each other to the desired extent. The lower ends of the two jaws are, by preference, made curved, as shown, to form a sort of semi-cylindrical clamp. The concave clamping-surfaces a a I prefer to line with soft metal of suitable kind, so as to avoid, as much as possible injury to the cable by contact with the clamp. D is a pin passing through the shank portions of the jaws, and E is a lever fitted upon the pin D on the outer side of the jaw A. The lower part of this lever E has a cam-shaped projection, b, whose oblique surface is in contact with a similar cam-shaped projection, cl, on the jaw A. e is a rubber or other spring, fitted upon the pin D between the two jaws, serving to hold them apart. When it is desired to grasp a cable between the jaws, the lever must be swung to bear the lower portion of the cam 12 against the upper portion of the cam d, and thereby to press the spring 0 and move the jaws toward each other.

This device, when attached in a suitable manner to a car or other thing, can be used with the greatest convenience for taking hold of an endless wire cable or rope, and thereby insuring the propulsion of such car or other thing as long as it is desired to have the same propelled by the cable.

Having thus described my invention, 1'. claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patcut- The couplingcable, composed of the hinged jaws A B, pin D, spring 0, cams b d, and lever E, all arranged to operate substantially as herein shown and described.

WINFIELD S. NEARING.

Witnesses to D. H. WALKER, MART. G. LEWIs. 

